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TimeGate studios decided to release Section 8: Prejudice, their sequel to Section 8, as a downloadable game instead of a full retail offering and it feels like a wise choice.

This is a game about a group of armored space marines named Section 8. They are an elite military unit with that special kind of crazy that lets them get fired from a drop ship onto the ground in nothing but their advanced, hopefully shock-absorbing armor. The force is an official military arm that took over colony policing duties from the original groups that used to tame the intergalactic frontier. Apparently it wasn’t a smooth transition. That’s the story, hopefully it wasn’t too confusing.

The gameplay is solid, and standard, first-person shooter fare. Your marine is issued a rocket pack carrying a limited amount of fuel that allows you to leap, Tribes 2-like, over various obstacles. You also have the ability to do a limited dash for some serious ground speed. These abilities are also provided to your enemies and both will prevent you from being able to target them; however, you are given a quick lock-on ability to counter this, though it requires a recharge between each use. This limited ability style creates a sort of cat-and-mouse game as you need to allow your abilities and shields to recharge, and using them can leave you exposed for takedown. The controls for the game unfortunately start off sluggish and you will need to work on tweaking the settings to get to a point you feel comfortable with.

There are seven weapons available in the game: your standard allotment of sniper rifles, rocket launchers, shotguns, assault rifles and pistols. They behave as you would expect them to, though some seem a little underpowered. You also have the ability to equip two different tool slots, one of which could be a knife for melee combat kills.

While the single player campaign is respectably long, especially for an XBLA game, there are very few surprises along the way. And the AI is not the brightest. Enemies let you take pot shots at them from a distance, without even bothering to seek cover, and tend to only react when you are close. This is not to say the game is a breeze. Oftentimes you will find yourself swarmed from enemy spawn points, and their weapons are just as lethal as yours. It helps to think of the single player mode as more of a training exercise for the multiplayer. That at least explains the random need to hack a server out in the middle of nowhere: practice.

Online play gives you two modes; Conquest and Swarm. In Conquest you can relive the glory days of Tribes 2 and battle with up to 32 players. You gain points from kills and capturing objectives that can be redeemed in real-time. Swarm allows you to team up with three friends and fight off waves of enemies. While not nearly as good as Horde in Gears of War, it’s still a fun time. There is also a grayed out box indicating more game modes will be added soon.

Prejudice easily earns its $15 asking price and ranks up there as one of the best value-per-dollar games to come out on XBLA. If you liked Tribes or the original Halo you won’t regret grabbing this one.